Eight countries to fund abortion clinics after President Trump's ban

By Natalie Cornish| 3 years ago

Photo: AFP

The photo defined President Trump's first week in office: in a room full of men, he signed an order banning U.S. funding of family planning clinics in the third world who even mention abortion. Now, eight countries — including Canada — have joined together to keep those clinics open and running as normal.

Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Luxemburg, Finland, Canada and Cape Verde have pledged to lend their support to a global fund that will help women in developing countries access information on abortion, Swedish Prime Minister Isabella Lovin has announced. She said the American President's policy — known as the 'Global Gag Rule' or 'Mexico City Agreement' — "could be dangerous for so many women". Together they have pledged to help plug the $600m shortfall over the next four years.

"If women don’t have control over their bodies and their own fate it can have very serious consequences for global goals of gender rights and global poverty eradication", Lovin told Reuters. She also posed for a picture this month (above) signing environmental legislation surrounded by women. It was seen as a direct response to last month's photo of President Trump signing the abortion ruling.

Legislation blocking U.S money from being used to fund overseas abortions has long been enshrined in American law. Ronald Reagan took this one step further in 1984 with the Global Gag Order, which bans family planning clinics funded by the U.S from providing women with information on abortion. Incoming presidents have since revoked or enacted the agreement to show their stance on abortion rights.